Omaha daily bee., 1887-01-04
SEABOARD TRANSPORTATION.
The Senate Committees Report on Inter-
State Commerce Questions.
PROGRESS OF A GENERATION.
An Enormous Increase III the Produce
tion of Our Two Leading Cereals
Facts About the Cost of
Ocean Carriage.
An Important Hcport.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 3.-Senator Aldrich.
chairman of the committee on Transportation
routes to the seaboard, In report dealing
largely with Interstate commerce questions.
gives table indicating the progress of the
United States for a generation. Thirty
three years ago we produced 100 900 900 BUSH
els of wheat and about GOO, ,OO0, 900 bushels of
corn. twice In recent years we have reached
5O0,OOO,000 bushels OF wheat and In 1885 tho
corn crop reached 500, OOu, 600 bushels-a FIVE
fold increase in wheat and thrcefold increase
in corn. The increase in other cereals has
not been so rapid nor are they regarded by
the committee as so important as the increase
In wheat and corn. In export trade the COM
mittee says wheat has already ranked first In
value and in five years has added $4,000, ,OO0,-
0Oo to the value of our national production, d
sum equivalent to four times the value of ex-
ported corn and cornmeal during the same
period. The report shows the move.
ment of grain within the United
states and points out what
changes have taken place in the grain
centers OF the country since tho war St.
Louis and Peoria have. speaking roundly,
doubled their average receipts. Baltimore.
Louisville and Duluth have increased nearly
three fold, while the average annual receipts
al kansas City have increased nine fold. An
attempt was made by the committee to ascer-
tain the rates of freight IRON the principal
intermediate points to the seahoard and also
from intermediate points TO the principal
cities of the various states in the hopes of as
certalnlng the facts in regard to the differ
ence of rates charged FOR long hauls and
short hauls. In relation to this inquiry the
committee says: The rates CHARGED for
local freight are evidently levied on some
what what the general principle of what the
1888 1t cost 4.6 cents to transport
bushel of wheat GA miles; the cost in Con-
necticut for transporting the same quantity
Oi Oi1 gfam "a Ie Ts i1es was cents in Pennsylva-
cents; vi course, the conditions may not
have been the same. Farther west we find
Kansas paying ~ cents per bu~hel for trans
porting q bushel OF wheat 40 miles; and Mas
sachusttts tor the same service, 3G miles, %
cents; while California pays SO cents per
buShcl for 30 miles"
!, Continuins on the subject Of local freghts,
the committee says: In Massachusetts the
rates nave steadily declined since 1874 on
every road included in the table and the same
is true OF Connecticut. On the principal
railroads OF Iowa there has also been consid-
erable decrease since lS1G. In Wisconsin,
Missouri, Minnesota, Nebraska and Califor-
ma the same general facts are brought out"
turning from the United States to foreign
and consumption OF cereals in Europe and
brings out the fact that the in
crease in population has been rela-
lively much greater in great grain prOducing
countries than it has been in grain buying
countries. One of the most important fea-
lures OF the report is the showing IN tabular
form OF the prices OF wheat for a series Of
years in the principal countries of tine world.
rms table shows that the average yearly price
OF wheat is the lowest in India ranging from
80 cents per buShel at Calcutta to S1. OF at
Bombay between ISIS and 1883 Russia comes
next, the average for n decade being Sl.2S
per bushel at Warsaw, S1.i2 per bushel at st.
Petersburg, and SLID per bushel at Odessa.
Austria ranks third in the following order:
Buda- -Pesth Sl.lS per bushel, Vienna $l29,
Trieste $l.aG, and Prague Sl,3 per bushel. In
the German empire the price varies sOme-
what,according to location. The free port
OF Bremen appears TO enjoy the lowest
price-Sl.3G per bushel-and curiously enough
Stettin, on the Baltic, the highest-Sl7 70 per
bushel. The average price of wheat at the
principal grain ports OF England was ex-
actly Sl.5O per bushel. Important facts are
brought out in relation TO ocean freight from
India, Russia, and the United States to
Great Britain, showing constant decline to
an extent which inspires tho following com.
ment which closes the report: Should this
tendency continue it Will not be long before
the cost of carrying wheat from India to
continental Europe and the United King
dom will be as low as between Atlantic ports
and these markets,